Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)

Director: Various

Cast: Kevin Conroy, Crystal Scales, Alanna Ubach, Core Padnos

Have I Seen it Before: In the lead up to The Dark Knight (2008), this was marketed as the bridge between that film and Batman Begins (2005), so there wasn’t much of a chance I was going to miss it immediately after release.

Did I Like It: I’ve had a generally dim view of the DC animated movies released over the years. The age of things like Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) was eventually shuffled off in exchange for adaptations of some of the most epic stories featuring the DC stable of characters that functioned no more than a synopsis of those larger, better stories.

This one might have been the starting gun for the modern slate of those movies, but it fares far better than its descendants. It helps that it isn’t trying to take a year worth of comics and jam it into a 70 minute runtime. It’s style—brought to life by prominent anime studios and filmmakers—has style to spare. That aspect might have recommended the material for a series than a feature. Indeed, the first segment “Have I Got a Story for You” is a fairly inventive remake of the The New Batman Adventures episode “Legends of the Dark Knight,” which itself was based on a comics story from the 70s, “The Batman Nobody Knows!”

The cast is generally good. One can’t go wrong with putting Kevin Conroy as the voice behind the Caped Crusader, and none of the rest of the cast distracts from the proceedings, which can be a challenge for these films. It helps that—for pointedly understandable reasons—none of the presented shorts feature the Joker. That’s usually where some of these can fly apart if they aren’t inviting Mark Hamill along for the ride.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

Director:  Eric Radomski, Bruce Timm

Cast: Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Dana Delany, Hart Bochner

Have I Seen It Before?: The VHS copy—I am sadly one of the many dolts who didn’t catch it in the theaters—was part of the haul of a massive tenth birthday shopping spree at Target (it went as high as fifty dollars!), twenty-six years ago today.

Did I like it?: Oh, man. At a time when Schumacher was at the helm of live-action Batman, this was hands-down the greatest feature-length story of the Dark Knight ever produced. Nolan came and the bigger movies got better. This one might have fallen a bit in esteem, but that is patently unfair. It is just as good as the Nolan films, and certainly better than either of the Zack Snyder entries with the character.

It’s equal parts competent whodunit puzzle (and it’s a shame how rarely a Batman story is also a mystery), film noir tragedy, and superhero story, all jammed into a tight 76-minute package. The moodiness that typifies people’s skepticism about Batman (Conroy) is given context (but not explicit explanation) here. He is a product of his own obsession, born in an era that made some brutal sense, but a part of an era where some degree of insanity is the only valid insurance policy. The only reason he continues to be a hero is because that obsession hasn’t completely swallowed him up, despite its best efforts and easier success with others. Other films have tried to harness this truth about the character. This one succeeds. The animation was originally intended for a direct-to-video release, and it shows, but none of us were showing up for Batman: The Animated Series for the feature-quality cels. We came for the writing… and also, it’s what was on the local Fox affiliate at that particular moment.

It also eschews many of the things that can become so de rigueur about Batman stories. At no point in this film does Martha drop her pearls. What’s more, her name isn’t even mention despite Bruce’s parents hovering like a cloud over everything. One of the Rogue’s Gallery doesn’t suck the air out of every moment in the film, either. Joker (Hamill) is here, but he’s a supporting character, a cypher. I’ve always felt the Clown Prince of Crime is like comic book wasabi. A little bit, and the flavor is surprising, perhaps even chaotic. Too much, and your mouths numb aside for the feeling of green horseradish in your mouth. Batman often works best when the supervillains are just part of the scenery; just see The Long Halloween for a master’s course in the subject. Or, better yet, give this film a view. It’s currently on Netflix, but who knows for how long?